


Something Good Can Work

by headassery



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Banter, Beaches, Day At The Beach, Fluff, I wrote this bc I miss summer and the boys, Louis takes care of Harry, M/M, One Shot, Sunburn, harry pouts a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9306278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headassery/pseuds/headassery
Summary: When Harry, Louis, and the rest of the boys decide to go to the beach one day, Harry tried to impress Louis by wearing the SPF 6 sunscreen instead of Niall's SPF 50. The result is a nasty sunburn... Lots of embarrassment, cooing, and care ensue.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! If anyone was wondering, the title is based off of Two Door Cinema Club's song, Something Good Can Work. This is my very first fic and I thought I'd make my debut into the wonderful world of writing fanfiction with a simple fluffy one shot. I wrote it because I'm horribly missing the summer and the beach! Ugh this is kind of awful, but it was cute in my mind ? Hopefully you enjoy! Feedback is greatly appreciated :) 
> 
> ~Thank you for taking the time to reading this~

One of Louis’ all time favorite things in the world is visiting the beach. He loves absolutely everything about it, even the bits most people found off-putting: the blazing sun beating down on your skin, the cold water the makes goosebumps cover your whole body, and the sand that seems to find it’s way onto every square inch of your body. 

He loved it all. 

That’s why when there’s a particularly beautiful day in the forecast with great surfing conditions, he insists his three best friends, Harry, Liam, Niall, and Zayn meet up and go to the beach. By a sunny Friday morning in July, all the plans had been made, the car had been packed, and the excitement was high. 

“Okay who still needs sunscreen?” Niall asks holding up his extra strength SPF 50 sunscreen. Zayn smirks, “Not that lad, I actually want to get some sun.” Niall scowls, “Well some of us are susceptible to sunburns.” Zayn continues to smirk as he retrieves the SPF 6 sun tan lotion from Louis’ bag. “I think this might be a little more my speed Ni” he says teasingly. the other boys laugh at the banter. Niall’s scowl deepens and he crosses his arms over his chest, “Oh don’t act like you all have never been burnt,” he points accusingly at Liam, “May I remind you of Spring Break 2013? Or do you need pictures to jog your memory, because as I remember you were burnt so badly you had to swim in a t-shirt.” Liam’s laughter ceases immediately. Everyone laughs at Liam’s obvious embarrassment and continue to apply various sunscreens to their body.

Louis glances over at Harry applying the sun tan lotion. Although him and Harry live together in LA year round, Harry spends far less time outdoors than Louis and therefore doesn’t have much of a base tan. “Um Haz, are you sure you don’t want to go with Niall’s sunscreen? You haven’t gotten a whole lot of sun so far this summer and your a little fair skinned to begin with,” Louis asks gently. Harry looks highly offended, “Excuse me? If I remember correctly I was far tanner than you all throughout summer breaks in Uni. You were the one who would go out on the first day and get burnt to a crisp and not be able to set foot outside for weeks afterwards,” he argues earning a light chuckle from the other boys. Louis narrows his eyes, “Fine, suit yourself, but don’t come crawling to me to rub aloe on you when you get burnt.” 

After everyone is ready, they all pile into Louis’ Jeep, buzzing with excitement. Louis and Niall are in the front seats, Louis driving, viciously arguing about which way is the shortest route to get to the beach. Zayn is in the back with a book in hand and his headphones plugged in, effectively cutting him off from the rest of the world. Harry and Liam are also squeezed in the back, enthusiastically discussing the release of Fantastic Beasts, the newest add on to the Harry Potter franchise. An hour passes of them continuing on this way until they reach their destination. They haul all of their towels, lawn chairs, surf boards, cooler, and umbrella down to the beach and claim their spot. “Absolutely perfect,” Louis proclaims as he surveys the bright, sunny, uncrowded beach. “C’mon Lou, lets get in the water!” Harry says as he drags his boyfriend towards the ocean. 

After several hours of swimming, surfing, beach volleyball, lounging, and sunbathing, they all finally decide that their ready to leave. The sun is setting over the beach as they load the car back up and head to Louis’. They eventually reach Louis’ house and Liam, Zayn, and Niall say their good night’s and leave, and Harry and Louis are left alone. Louis yawns, “I’m exhausted Haz, you ready for bed?” He asks. Harry, who still hasn’t removed his hat, sunglasses, or oversized Hawaiian button up, bites his lip sheepishly, “Yeah, but I think I’ll take a quick shower first,” Harry replies suspiciously. Louis tilts his head in question, “Okay, are you alright? You a little seem off.” Louis asks, his voice lightly laces with concern. “Yeah I’m fine.” Harry says, quickly retreating to the bathroom, “I might be a little while, so you don’t have wait up, I know you’re tired.” Louis looks at the bathroom door where Harry has receded into for a moment. “Um, okay. Love you…” he says warily. After pondering his boyfriend’s odd behavior, he shrugs and changes into his sleep clothes. 

After being settled into bed for a few minutes he begins to drift off, vaguely thinking that he never heard the shower being turned on. Just a few seconds later, Harry comes through the door, the bathroom light being the only thing illuminating his silhouette in the dark bedroom. “Um, Louis… I sort of need your help,” Harry asks quietly. Louis immediately sits up in bed and turns on the bedside lamp, “Of course, what is it Haz?” Harry remains silent. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the light, but when they do his jaw drops in shock. His previously ivory skinned boyfriend is now crimson red. “Oh… my… God” he slowly says as he takes in Harry’s complexion. “Harry…” Louis fades off, this has to be the worst sunburn he’s ever seen. You can now see the pale spot where his sunglasses once rested. “Don’t you dare say I told you so,” Harry snaps. Louis chuckles lightly, “I wasn’t going to, I was just going to say how you’re… what was it that you said?… Oh yeah: burnt to a crisp” Louis smirks, satisfied that he was right all along. “Oh shut up you bastard” Harry replies, with no real venom behind his words. Louis snickers as he climbs out of bed to assess the damage. 

“Well, bizarrely enough your stomach isn’t too badly burnt.” Louis says, “But your back on the other hand…” he fades off not wanting to tell Harry the extent of his burn. He can tell right away its a second degree burn, as small blisters are beginning to form. “Its bad isn't it?” Harry asks sadly, “I tried to look at it in the bathroom, but I couldn't see the worst of it in the mirror.” Louis sighs, “Yeah its pretty bad, you might have sun poisoning if I’m being honest. We should go ahead and put aloe on it right away.” Harry’s eyes widen in horror, “Sun poisoning?! I’m going to get skin cancer aren’t I? Oh no, I’m never going outside ever again,” he says horrified. Louis rolls his eyes in amusement, “Harold, stop being so dramatic, you’ll probably just have to apply aloe a couple of times a day and wait for it to peel.” Harry looks disappointed, “Ugh fine, but can you please help me?” He asks. “Of course,” Louis answers.

~ ~ ~

“Harry hold still!” Louis exclaims exasperated as he tries to apply aloe to a squirming Harry’s bright red back. They’re in an extremely precarious position; Harry face down on the bed wiggling around to avoid Louis touch, Louis straddling his hips. “But Lou it burns worse when you touch it” He pouts. Louis huffs “Haz, this will make it stop hurting sooner, can you please just trust me?” he asks rolling his eyes. Maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place if Harry had listened to him in the first place and applied the right kind of sunscreen when they first decided to go to the beach, Louis thinks. “Harry you were the one who refused to use the SPF 50 that Niall had and insisted on using my SPF 10” he points out. Harry pouts once again, “Well you always use it and I’ve never seen you get sun burnt let alone sun poisoning since we’ve lived here” he says, gesturing to his own blistered skin. Louis sighs in defeat, “Fine fine you win, but please at least take a cold shower to cool your skin down?” Louis pleads. Harry beams, “your wish is my command” he says cheekily. 

As Harry raises himself off the bed he winces when his skin makes contact with the sheets. Louis’ harsh gaze softens. “I am sorry you got burnt,” he says as he approaches Harry. Harry shrugs, “Guess it was my own fault.” Louis frowns, “I probably should have insisted that you put the sunscreen on more. You don’t have a base tan like me, so of course you were going to get burnt” Louis says sympathetically. “Its fine, I should’ve listened,” Harry says dejected. 

Harry once again goes into the bathroom and Louis settles into bed. “Lou! The water burns worse?” Harry calls out. Louis gets out of bed and sleepily retreats into the bathroom. “Do you want me to come in with you to help you wash?” He asks loudly over the running shower. Harry pokes his red face out of the shower curtain, still hiding the rest of his body. “Um no. I don’t really want you to see me like this,” he says shyly. Louis internally coos at his adorable behavior. “Harry I see you all the time, the only difference is that you’re a little red,” he insists. “No Lou, I look ridiculous! Could you just…” he sighs, “Could you just sit with me so I can distract myself from the pain?” He pleads. “Sure love” Louis smiles fondly. 

They sit in the bathroom together, Harry in the shower occasionally hissing in pain, Louis perched on the toilet cover trying to carry on a conversation to distract Harry. Eventually the water turns off and Louis automatically hands Harry a towel over the shower curtain. “Um Lou, can I use your fuzzy robe, this towel is a little rough against my back. Louis grins fondly, “Of course, let me go grab it from the bedroom. Louis comes back in with the soft blue and white polka dotted robe he bought years ago from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. “Here you go,” he says handing it over the curtain. 

Moments later he emerges from the shower, bundled in Louis’ too-small robe. His face is still as red as ever, but now he’s pouting. Louis can’t help but think of how cute he looks with the comically small robe only reaching just below his knees.

“Let’s just go to bed babe,” Louis says sadly. Harry nods and follows him into the bedroom. Harry slips on a pair of boxers, but decides against a t-shirt. They slip into the bed and Harry twists around until he finds a position where no bedding is touching his burns. He opens his arms expectantly and Louis huffs a laugh as he inserts himself against Harry’s pink chest. Louis turns off the lamp and right before he drifts off, Louis vaguely imagines what kind of scene Harry will put on tomorrow when he forces him to put aloe on.


End file.
